Sprain that (Quickly) Ended in No Pain!
Have you ever sprained your ankle(s)? Throughout my lifetime I have sprained both ankles several times. Usually the sprains were not too severe so it would take about four weeks to heal each time, give or take a little. The most severe sprain was my last and only took three days to heal. Hmmmmm, what was the difference, you ask?
To highlight how severe this particular sprain was please allow me to give you a picture. I started running down a 100 yard hill in order to catch a car. The driver had left an item behind and I was attempting to deliver it. Unfortunately, about ten feet down said hill I tripped and sprained my ankle. Stubbornness and a bit of stupidity propelled me down the rest of the hill. Did I catch the car? Yes, but WOW did I pay! I had to turn into a snake to get back up the hill; sliding and dragging myself the whole way. There was no way to get up the hill in a vertical position due to the severity of the sprain.
Upon finally reaching my car again my friend kindly took over driving duty. I got busy applying acupuncture needles and moxibustion. I repeated the treatment again that evening and the next morning. Frankly, I was amazed by the results. I was at that time, back in 1995, a recent graduate of Tai Hsuan Foundation Acupuncture school in Honolulu, Hawaii. I knew from my training how effective acupuncture was for sprains, but I was pretty sure it would take more than three days to heal such a significant sprain!
The keys in this particular happy ending are that I utilized acupuncture before swelling set in and thereby bypassed it altogether. I also used moxibustion which has the effect of increasing circulation. And…………….I didn’t use ice. Why no ice? From a Traditional Chinese Medicine standpoint ice, by itself, congeals the blood in the area that it is applied. Ice basically produces the opposite effect of circulation.
The moral of this story is: if you injure yourself, get some acupuncture and moxibustion as quickly as you can. Unlike chiropractic, massage, and physical therapy, which require at least 48 hours before utilizing, acupuncture works best to use immediately. Injuries include sprains of all kinds, contusions, whiplash, and etc. Anytime you think anti-inflammatory, think acupuncture for quicker results with no side effects.
Leslie Shanai
